


The Mark of a Soul's Love

by IconicAnemone



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Child Abuse, Gen, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Platonic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25620745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IconicAnemone/pseuds/IconicAnemone
Summary: Zuko knew that he was lucky to be born.Zuko knew that he wasn't lucky as his father burned his betraying shoulders.Zuko knew that he was loyal, though his soul said otherwise.Zuko was not weak.He couldn't be.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 108





	The Mark of a Soul's Love

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you @Muffinlance for inspiring me with your parental soulmarks idea. It helped this idea grow and bloom.

Zuko knew that he was lucky to be born.

His father always told him that, and Azula mimicked their father.

The only thing that his luck stretched to, was his family soulmarks showing only when no one could see them.

His mother knew about them, though. His mother was the one to tell him to keep his shoulders covered as much as possible, so that his marks wouldn’t show when they flashed. 

He loved to hide in the rafters, shrugging his shirt off to try to catch a glance of his non-blood family. Rarely, he would catch the sight of an indigo rolling wave, or a golden fan. He remembered catching sight of a bracelet of a forign metal when he was in one of the caves at Ember Island. Another time he saw a blue and silver weapon, shaped in a V. 

His Uncle Iroh told tales that soulmarks showed when both sides were feeling the same thing, or when one of them needed help. He showed his wrists as it flashed with his soul friends, and his shoulders as it flashed Zuko’s imagery, a bright yellow flame.

Iroh never showed the young prince his back, though he told that the romantic soulmark would appear there. 

Iroh told of how the imagery would depict who your soulmate would be when both saw their mark flash at the same time, before the marks would grow with the person. 

He didn’t tell of what would happen if you saw your soulmate’s mark for the last time.

  
  


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Zuko knew he wasn’t lucky, as he saw Azula’s wrist flash along with Mai and Ty Lee. He never saw any images show on his wrists. 

Ty Lee said that meant that all his soulmates were his family.

Azula brushed this aside, saying that Zuko didn’t have any family marks outside of the Dragon Throne line.

Zuko tried to ignore the way her eyes pierced into his soul,

  
  


\------------- --------------- -------------

Zuko knew he wasn’t lucky, the day after his mother left. 

Lu Ten had died. Uncle Iroh ended the siege at the great walls of Ba Sing Se.

Mother was gone.

Not long after that, Azula’s fire turned blue. 

Zuko never looked at his shoulders anymore.

  
  


\------------- --------------- -------------

  
  


Zuko knew he wasn’t lucky as his father burned his face off. 

“Suffering will be your teacher.” His father’s voice rang in his head as the pain in Zuko’s face spread to his naked shoulders.

Zuko wasn’t lucky.

Zuko was weak.

  
  


\------------- --------------- -------------

  
  


Zuko woke up in an unfamiliar room, unable to see out of one eye. Out of his other eye, he did see Uncle sitting next to his bed with a cup of tea.

“Uncle?” He rasped, struggling to get up.

“Prince Zuko!” The old man said, setting his cup down and reaching to push Zuko back down, stuttering before resting his hands on the boy’s arms. “You must rest!”

“I must find the Avatar.” Zuko said, remembering what his father said as he laid on the ground, not yet unconscious. 

“Your injuries have not yet recovered.” Iroh said, his eyes flickering to the eye Zuko couldn’t see out of, as well as his shoulders. 

The banished prince looked down at his shoulders, finding them wrapped in bandages.

“Your family marks flashed as he burned you.” Uncle explained. “The Fire Lord claimed that was partly the reason for your banishment.”

“What was?” Zuko asked, a chill running down his spine. 

“The fact that you had more family marks than living family members.” Iroh’s concerned face explained. “He stated that to prove your loyalties to the fire nation, that you had to capture the Avatar.”

Capture the Avatar, get back home. Zuko nodded, ignoring the wetness on his face as he winced at the pain in his shoulders as he fought to get up. 

“Prince Zuko!” The older prince said, barely resisting. “Ozai’s mark did not show up among them.”

“Of course his didn’t!” Zuko yelled, not catching the split second of relief on his Uncle’s face. “Why would his show up when we both knew that he was just teaching me!”

He ignored Iroh’s head hanging as he struggled to get a shirt on, before stomping up onto the deck of the ship, immediately shouting orders.

Zuko was not lucky. 

But he would _not_ be weak. 

**Author's Note:**

> Meet me at my tumblr! 
> 
> https://iconicanemone.tumblr.com/


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